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Friday, August 18, 2017

Riders Send RIcky Collins To Hamilton

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced Friday that
the football club has acquired international wide receiver Ricky Collins
Jr. and a seventh round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft from the
Saskatchewan Roughriders in exchange for international defensive end
Mike McAdoo and a sixth round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft.

Collins Jr., 25, has appeared in 15 games with the Roughriders over
the last two seasons (2016-17), posting 48 receptions for 720 yards and
two touchdowns. He also returned eight kickoffs for 151 yards (18.9
average) and five punts for 42 yards (8.4 average). Prior to joining the
Roughriders, Collins Jr. had a brief stint with the Winnipeg Blue
Bombers in 2016 and spent time with the National Football League’s Green
Bay Packers in 2015.

McAdoo (6’7 – 250) has spent the last two weeks on the Tiger-Cats practice roster after signing with the team August 7th.
The University of North Carolina product has had previous stints with
the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys since turning pro in
2011.
The 27-year-old Tennessee native also played two games for the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2013, registering one tackle and one
quarterback sack.

If I am reading the Rider press release correctly, DE Mike McAdoo was on the Ti-Cats practice Roster. If that was the case, the Riders could have just offered McAdoo a roster spot and would not have to give anything up. Granted McAdoo could have turned down the offer, but who would not jump at the opportunity to leave Hamilton.

The Riders still have plenty of receivers, both national and international, so they were dealing from a position of strength, but the question remains, why did they have to give up anything when they did not need to.

I know that on several recent shows there have been discussion regarding the CFL playoff format. I realize that you want one division and the top 6 qualify, while Rod and Lynch want to keep the format as is. Here is a possible solution that sort of blends both ideas.

We will call it a double crossover.

1. The first place team from both the West and the East regardless of record earn byes to the finals in each division. 2. If the 5th place team in the West has a better record than the 2nd place team in the East then the 5th place team in the West would qualify for the playoffs. 3. Since all 5 teams from the West qualified for the playoffs, who would host the semi-finals could be decided one of two ways. a. We could say that the 4th and 5th place teams as the crossover teams play each other at the home of the 4th place finisher and the winner is the visitor in the Eastern Final. OR b. Since some people would be upset that the 4th place team is hosting a playoff game, when then should be lucky just to be in the playoffs, we could have the following format. 5th place team in the West goes to the 2nd place team and the 4th place team travels to the 3rd place team. Then based on who wins the semi-final game, the division winner with the best record plays the semi-final winner who had the worst regular season record, then the remaining two teams play in the other division final.

In looking at this, I believe that this keeps the East / West format alive and the possibility of a all West Grey Cup is just as possible with this format as the current format. However, it also gets getter the best 6 teams in the playoffs. As was stated on an earlier episode of the Sportscage, never in CFL history has a 5th place team in the West had a better record than the 1st place team in the East.

About Me

This is mainly a Regina sports blog, but you will get information and thoughts from me on a number of topics some that aren't even sports related. You can see me on Access 7 in Regina co-hosting a local one hour sports program called Locker Talk highlighting Regina sports. You can hear me reading afternoon news and sports on 620 CKRM in Regina along with co-hosting "Sportscage" on same station from time to time. I'm also a part of Sask Roughriders broadcast on CKRM and I write feature articles for the Riders on their website Riderville.com.